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"A far-ranging and impressively comprehensive book with exemplary iconographic analyses. Kinsley has drawn together a group of rare, stunning, and fascinating images."—Miranda Shaw, author of Passionate Enlightenment
List of contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction
PART I. THE MAHAVIDYAS AS A GROUP
The Ten Mahavidyas; Typical Literary and Iconographic Contexts; The Mahavidyas as Forms of the Mahadevi;
Mahavidya Origin Myths; Interrelationships among the Mahavidyas; Worship of the Mahavidyas;
The Mahavidyas and Magical Powers; The Significance of the Term Mahavidya;
Concluding Observations
PART II. THE INDIVIDUAL MAHAVIDYAS
Kali: The Black Goddess
Tara: The Goddess Who Guides through Troubles
Tripura-sundari: She Who Is Lovely in the Three Worlds
Bhuvanegvari: She Whose Body Is the World
Chinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess
Bhairavi: The Fierce One
Dharnavati: The Widow Goddess
Bagalamukhi: The Paralyzer
Matarigi: The Outcaste Goddess
Kamald: The Lotus Goddess
PART III. CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS
Corpses and Cremation Grounds 233; Skulls and Severed Heads;
Sexuality and Awakened Consciousness; The Conjunction of Death and Sexual Imagery;
The Roles of Women and Reverence for Women; The Potentially Liberating Nature of Social Antimodels
NOTES
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
About the author
David Kinsley is Professor of Religion at McMaster University, Canada. He is the author of Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition (California, 1985), and The Sword and the Flute: Kali and Krisna, Dark Visions of the Terrible and Sublime in Hindu Mythology (California, 1975).
Summary
The Hindu pantheon is rich in images of the divine feminine - deities representing a wide range of symbolic, social, and meditative meanings. This book documents a highly unusual group of ten Hindu tantric goddesses, the Mahavidyas, many of whom are strongly associated with sexuality and violence.
